Key Thinkers in Ideologies

Key thinkers in Conservatism

Edmund Burke = can be described as the father of conservatism and is best known for his opposition to the French revolution 1790 and he believed that change should always be based on practical experience of what works = "change in order to conserve"

Benjamin Disraeli = He worked at the time where there was real conflict in Britain when the maintenance of order was threatened he saw that Britain was divided into 'two nations' the rich and poor and he took a pragmatic approach of conservatism to turn them into 'one-nation', henceforth, his version of conservatism is known as one-nation conservatism. Harold Macmillan a one-nation conservatsm saw Thatchers privatisation as "selling off the family silver"

Micheal Oakshott = he suggested that politics shoul not have any fixed goals or a sense of direction. Politics shouls be "a conversation not an argument"

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Keith Joseph = Keith Joseph was the main advisor of Thatcher and is known for helping creating what we call Thatcherism today. He saw the 'cycle of deprivation' due to too much action over the usual view of not enough, he was seen as being very extreme

Hayek and Friedman = 2 economists which Thatcher looked up to greatly in her neo-liberalism area, they encouraged her not to br involved in the state and believed that government was the problem rather than the cause

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Key thinkers in Socialism

Robert Owen = Sometimes seen as the father as British Socialism but is known for his influence on the Utopian Socialists. He knew what he wanted to achieve in socialism but didnt concentrate on how he was going to get there, hence why utopian socialism was not very successful

Karl Marx = Very influential philosopher and alongside hegel saw the problems which were with capitalism and focused on getting socialism through revolutionary means. Class was a big problem in socialism and he believed that there would have to be a proletariat revolution. He was strong on equality and needs = "each according to his abilities to each according to his needs" and also he believed that "capitalism was dead"

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Key thinkers in Liberalism

John Locke = Sometimes suggested to be the father of much of liberalism and his philosophy was based on the ideas of natural rights and natural laws. Locke was the earliest proponent of liberal ideas and his influence went a long way to create liberalism

John Stuart Mill = Utilitarian philosopher and saw the individual being the most important aspect in liberalism and humans should have near complete freedom but not freedom to the point where you can harm someone else.. this is seen as his 'harm principle' and the state was a threat to freedom

William Beveridge = Unlike many liberals before him, Beveridge did not fear the extension of state intervention and he is one of the first who saw intevention as beneficial. His famous quote sums things up = "a starving man is not free"

John Maynard Keynes = Key economist who is main in what is known as keynesianism when the government do what they have to do reduce unemployment and to even at some cases borrow money to increase the demand for things